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A review by crybabybea
They Can't Kill Us Until They Kill Us by Hanif Abdurraqib
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
4.75
Just lovely. Nobody is doing culture writing like Hanif Abdurraqib. He speaks to the soul of music lovers everywhere, but is especially unique because of how his experience mirrors that of the younger millennial/older gen z group who grew up half online then transitioned to fully online, experiencing the era of emo and the commercialization of rap and the cultural shifts that reflected the genres.
I'm still convinced Abdurraqib will be remembered as one of our generation's greatest writers. He has a great skill in being able to view events as a whole and pinpoint specific emotions, and is able to weave together emotional reflection with cultural commentary, providing an experience unique to his own worldview but still relatable enough that any reader can find a bit of themselves. He provides an intimate look into things that are often not talked about, the uncomfortable emotions and difficult memories that try to stay buried. And, as reflected by his additional notes provided in the audio version, he is able to revisit the same thoughts and deepen them further as things change.
His writing is obviously poetic and beautiful, but he is able to toe the line between making grand metaphorical observations without coming across as pretentious or inaccessible. He makes his writing relatable, and is able to verbalize very human experiences that many of us struggle to face and put into words.
This one for me was marginally less enjoyable than A Little Devil in America, because it was a bit more disjointed. It certainly had ties throughout, and still felt tight enough to not be distracting or overwritten, but I enjoyed some essays more than others because of it. I also felt like it didn't have the interactive feeling that really made A Little Devil in America shine for me. Of course, this is Abdurraqib's first essay collection and I read them chronologically out of order, so it's to be expected.
I'm still convinced Abdurraqib will be remembered as one of our generation's greatest writers. He has a great skill in being able to view events as a whole and pinpoint specific emotions, and is able to weave together emotional reflection with cultural commentary, providing an experience unique to his own worldview but still relatable enough that any reader can find a bit of themselves. He provides an intimate look into things that are often not talked about, the uncomfortable emotions and difficult memories that try to stay buried. And, as reflected by his additional notes provided in the audio version, he is able to revisit the same thoughts and deepen them further as things change.
His writing is obviously poetic and beautiful, but he is able to toe the line between making grand metaphorical observations without coming across as pretentious or inaccessible. He makes his writing relatable, and is able to verbalize very human experiences that many of us struggle to face and put into words.
This one for me was marginally less enjoyable than A Little Devil in America, because it was a bit more disjointed. It certainly had ties throughout, and still felt tight enough to not be distracting or overwritten, but I enjoyed some essays more than others because of it. I also felt like it didn't have the interactive feeling that really made A Little Devil in America shine for me. Of course, this is Abdurraqib's first essay collection and I read them chronologically out of order, so it's to be expected.